About six hours after the first public hearing began Thursday, Miami-Dade Commissioners gave preliminary approval to the mayor’s $10 billion budget, which focuses on affordable housing, infrastructure and clean water while cutting the tax rate by 1%.
“This year we will continue rebuilding our community and economy stronger than ever by prioritizing critical investments in making Miami-Dade more affordable and livable, upgrading our infrastructure for future prosperity and resilience, helping small businesses thrive, and connecting residents to opportunity,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava writes in her budget message.
Because property values continue to increase, her 1% cut on the tax rate amounts to about $14 a year for the average homeowner — it’s really 10% above the state defined rollback rate that would equal a zero tax increase — and some commissioners believe the county can give back more.
Commissioners Raquel Regalado and Joe Martinez — who went to the meeting pending a suspension by the governor after his public corruption charges last week — each suggested a 2% tax rate cut and a 3% tax rate cut, respectively. The larger break would cut $5.5 million from the budget.
“In a $10 billion budget, that’s a drop in the bucket,” said Martinez, who just couldn’t resist a chance to vote against the budget one last time.
Read related: Ron DeSantis to suspend Miami-Dade’s Joe Martinez–when he finds a stand-in
But they did not get any traction after Budget Director David Clodfelter explained that the five year plan starting in 2024 shows a deficit. He didn’t say how much that deficit was and Regalado questioned if those calculations included savings in police costs once the sheriff’s office is created.
“If we’re going to be in a deficit in a year, why recommend a 1% then,” Martinez asked, and these are the kind of questions we are going to miss when he is suspended.
Martinez, Regalado and Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz all voted against the budget, which passed 9-3. Commissioner Rene Garcia was absent.
That means that every other commissioner who voted in favor of the budget voted for the ridiculous “County Ambassadors” program that would pay former commissioners — those who aren’t removed from office or recalled — up to $25,000 a year to cut ribbons and crap like that, as well as advise the commission chairman. Say what?
Watch the first Miami-Dade Commission budget hearing
Commissioner Oliver Gilbert was the one to defend it on the dais, but it sounds more like something concocted by the termed-out commissioners who are facing an end to their celebrity status this November.
Is Diaz not sure he can be elected mayor of Sweetwater next year? Or maybe former Commissioners Barbara Jordan and Dennis Moss are broke and/or bored. After all, Jennifer Moon, the commission’s budget and policy director, told the Miami Herald that the idea came about through discussions between current and former commissioners. Hope Sunshine Laws weren’t violated.
Either way, it’s a terrible idea. Is there no limit for how many ambassadors? What are the liabilities? Are commissioners allowed to vote to give themselves a possible future job?
Commissioner Eileen Higgins expressed concern about having formers suddenly appear at an event she is at. Can you imagine her and former Commissioner Bruno Barreiro sharing a stage?
Termed-out means termed-out. It doesn’t mean that taxpayers want electeds coming back on the public trough in another role. No. These people already get health insurance for life. That’s something that ought to be revisited, by the way.
Also, it’s kind of shady to sneak this into the general budget, rather than have it go through committee and get the full scrutiny it deserves.
The budget comes back for a second public hearing Sept. 20 and, from the discussion on Thursday, there might be some changes to accommodate the commissioners’ concerns. Let’s hope that cutting the county ambassador’s program is one of those changes.
Miami-Dade passes $10B budget w/ tiny tax ‘cut’ and shady ‘ambassadors’ fund added by Ladra on
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